The Invisible Man (Paperback)
by H.G. Wells
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Read in August, 2008
I love Wells, why I was never made to read anything by him in high school I will never know. The Invisible Man follows the story of an un-named man who enters a tavern/inn in a small town. The man is wrapped head to toe in bandages, eyes covered by goggles and a hat pulled down. Assuming the mysterious man to have been horribly scarred, the innkeeper’s wife rents him a room without even asking his name. Very quickly the reader learns that the man is invisible, and not all that pleasant to ...more
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Read in February, 2008
Do you think the notion of an invisible man was really foreign to the readers during the time Wells wrote? While I found this book moderately entertaining, thought the scientific "theories" were thought-provoking, and felt there were seeds of some really potent themes (however undernourished the seeds turned out to be), I feel like Wells was totally preoccupied with trying to describe to the reader what it would be like to have an invisible man in our midst. This isn't a concept that I...more
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Read in July, 2006
recommends it for:
Wells fans might enjoy it; most readers will be bored.
Science fiction owes a huge debt to H.G. Wells. His “scientific romances” explored conceits that writers are still fascinated with. SF fans worth their salt, then, will make it a point to read the major works of the Father of Science Fiction. In that spirit I picked up The Invisible Man.
A stranger takes up lodging in a rustic inn. His eccentric behavior is remarked upon, demanding complete privacy and going about in concealing attire. Inexplicable mischief arrives with him and, wh...more
A stranger takes up lodging in a rustic inn. His eccentric behavior is remarked upon, demanding complete privacy and going about in concealing attire. Inexplicable mischief arrives with him and, wh...more
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One man's strange desire to be something and nothing exacts its toll by driving him completely insane. Criminally insane. In our day and age, a man like this would be labeled a threat to society, a terrorist...at the turn of the century he was, merely THE INVISIBLE MAN.
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Okay, so I finally sat down and watched the Universal Studios version of this (starring Claude Rains - what a hoot!); and I must say that, thanks to a friend allowing me to sit in on several of her film s...more
*
Okay, so I finally sat down and watched the Universal Studios version of this (starring Claude Rains - what a hoot!); and I must say that, thanks to a friend allowing me to sit in on several of her film s...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Jessica by:
"1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" listrecommends it for: Wouldn't recommend it...
The title pretty much says it all… This is the story of an Invisible Man. Quite different from the Chevy Chase movie. The book was quite dark and violent. I enjoyed the beginning of it, but once I hit the chapter that uses science to explain the process of making himself invisible, I lost interest. I really didn’t follow what he was saying. I found the main character, the Invisible Man, to be a selfish & whiney individual. I understand he didn’t think before turning himself into a guin...more
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Read in July, 2006
recommends it for:
Science fiction readers, classics readers with a lot of time on their hands
I'm not sure if this is the edition I read, but it ought to be the same story no matter the cover.
The Invisible Man is one of many classics that is apologetically slow while trying to justify its own existence and rationality. Even though the title gives away the peculiar condition of the main character, Wells spends a long time teasing us with before the "revelation." Even after that period, outside of couple of plot quirks and the explanation for how Griffin became invisib...more
The Invisible Man is one of many classics that is apologetically slow while trying to justify its own existence and rationality. Even though the title gives away the peculiar condition of the main character, Wells spends a long time teasing us with before the "revelation." Even after that period, outside of couple of plot quirks and the explanation for how Griffin became invisib...more
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Read in May, 2008
Before reading this book I had thought it was the classic, "Invisible Man" by Ralph, but it wasn't, so beware. I read it anyway. It was interesting in the beginning because it was mysterious as to who this stranger was. The stranger was acting very odd and wasn't very cooperative with the people in the town. Eventually when the towns people found out about his invisibility they freaked out and started going against him. Taking advantage of his invisibility he got away from the people. ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Wells fans
In my opinion, Wells stories generally take a scientific theory and describe how people and the world are effected by the breaking or unlikely achievement of this theory, while not really concentrating on the character development. His characters are usually one-dimentional and his scientists are usually aggressive dicks that think of nothing but their personal advancement, maybe scientist used to be like this. The Invisible Man is no difference. The title character, who is already an egocent...more
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Read in April, 2008
I thought this book was very interesting. Some parts of the dialect I was very confused on, but I liked how it was easy to understand the plot unlike Shakespeare's work. The Invisible Man follows the journey of a mad scientist who discovers the power of invisibility. Throughout the work he tries to find a cure to return himself to normal. One would think that being invisible would be fun, but it turns out it is more trouble then it is worth. Along the way he finds that keeping his invisibilty a ...more
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Read in May, 2008
Well, this is my fourth Wells novel to date, and I like it more than Time Machine but less than First Men in the Moon and The Island of Dr. Moreau. At first it was the secondary characters - they seemed too stereotyped and provincial under the nameless narrator's lens. But than it was the Invisible Man himself - he was just too mean and too cruel. Nothing redeemable about him. By the end though, after reading about his explanation and his death, the book had grown on me. I can see now why he inv...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
people who are confused.
mostly the whole time i was reading this i was confused that it was not Invisible Man. it was an audiobook, and i waited until the end to look up covers and realize that, no, it was not the one i had started reading in the past (that i had gathered) or the one i wanted.
oh well. instead i experienced yet another story of an outsider gone crazy and put to death. still not sure what drove him to craziness, which i suppose is my major iss...more
oh well. instead i experienced yet another story of an outsider gone crazy and put to death. still not sure what drove him to craziness, which i suppose is my major iss...more
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Read in June, 2008
H.G. Wells has given us some of our most famous and frequently-used plot devices...so why are his books themselves so boring? He devotes huge portions of the book to explaining in detail the whys and wherefores, which suspends the plot and the action. Much like The Island of Dr. Moreau, Wells seems obsessed with the "mad scientist" idea, and also has a strange fixation on vivisection - The Island of Dr. Moreau revolv...more
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Read in February, 2008
Interesting. Not quite what I was expecting. Well written, I suppose. It was definitely an intriguing plot, and I found myself liking the Invisible Man's character. It was written, strangely, as if Wells had interviewed participants of the events and put it into a column, almost, with sentences like, "he swears he heard this" and "the events were then out of his knowledge," while the book is in past tense. It gave it a somewhat cool "this happened" feel, but was odd...more
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Read in March, 2008
A truely remarkable story for it's time, but an example of Wells in his literary youth. The self-ostracism that Griffen endures due to his path into criminality and narcissism is too simple for me, I just wanted to know more. I appreciate that this work has been considered to be a novella rather than a full novel, and has been widely copied (particularly by the film world), but I just felt that this was too short, too predictable; the sinister nature of Griffen's behavioural change just not exp...more
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Read in March, 2008
The Invisible Man is a about man named Griffin who is, you guessed it, invisible. Griffin is a well educated Brit with a bit of an anger management problem. The book starts with the arrival of the shrouded stranger in the town of Iping. The book starts slow, but quickly builds as we follow Griffin's movements from town to town and learn from others accounts of his doings. You learn of the main character's history and a little of the reasons why Griffin is bent on causing Terror to the masses...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in August, 2006
To start: I like science fiction. I like H. G. Wells. I did not like this novel. The writing is good, but nothing exceptional. The story is slow and there's odd bits of violence, but what really makes this book not worth reading are the characters(or lack of). While the protagonist is well-written and developed, he's just a bad guy. I found myself wanting to see him fail, but not wanting to read anything preceding his down fall. There's not a single character in this novel to like. It's ...more
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Read in January, 1996
recommends it for:
Those who like sci-fi
This is pretty much classic sci-fi. It plays with reality, but doesn't get too technical. However, the entire story line follows from the "playing" with reality. It also examines whether or not anyone really wants to be "invisible". It's a decent read, but not terribly exciting. This is not a book I think they should EVER use with kids who don't like to read, but they tend to like to do it in high school. I think that's a mistake, because it is definitely a book you hav...more
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Read in February, 2008
I read the large print edition and I don't know if it was because of the huge print or the writing, but I had a hard time staying focused on the story. I found myself daydreaming while reading and kind of just skimming. The story was alright, interesting and good, but not spectacular. I think a book about an invisible man could be really great, but this one was just okay. Maybe it was the large print, I don't know. I was surprised and disappointed because I usually love the Signet Classics.
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
All who appreciate great, challenging, and dramatic stories.
Simply put, this is an absolutely extraordinary book. In essence it is a Victorian novel about an invisible man. But beyond that, there is so much more. Wells not only tells the story beautifully, but he explains the science of invisibility with both literary and biological skill, which combine for phenomenal effect. His language is sharp and intelligent, but it is the story itself which holds the most wonder: Wells was a master of plot, and this tragic tale is surely one of his best.
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I thought H.G. Well's War of the Worlds was pretty okay. Then I came across this book; the title really surprised me. It's so weird how a story could revolve around an invisible man who commits crime in which no one can catch. It's a little strange to read H.G. Wells' books because they are all talking about things that are so unlikely to happen but yet, you're easily drawn into what goes on around the world when these kinds of things happen.
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